World Kinect (WKC) Risk Analysis

Our global operations are subject to applicable anti-corruption laws, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act 2010, anti-money laundering laws, international trade controls, and competition laws. Anti-corruption laws generally prohibit us from providing anything of value to foreign officials for the purposes of improperly influencing official decisions or improperly obtaining or retaining business and may also apply to commercial bribery. As part of our business, we operate in countries with a high degree of corruption and frequently interact with state-owned enterprises and government officials. This may increase the risk of improper payments being demanded of, offered by, or made by one of our employees or a party acting on our behalf. The risk of enforcement has also grown in recent years as more of the countries in which we operate have passed anti-corruption laws and prioritized enforcement of those laws which can result in significant fines and penalties. International trade controls, including economic sanctions such as those administered by the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") or the U.K.'s HM Treasury, export controls and anti-boycott regulations, restrict our business dealings with certain countries and individuals, are complex, may conflict with each other, are continually changing and may be adopted quickly. For example, as a result of the military conflict in Eastern Europe, the U.S., the E.U., the U.K. and other countries in which we operate have imposed sanctions on Russia and certain other individuals and entities with connections to the Russian state. Additional restrictions may be enacted, amended, enforced or interpreted in a manner that materially impacts our operations. From time to time, certain of our subsidiaries have limited business dealings in countries subject to comprehensive OFAC administered sanctions. While such activities currently represent an immaterial amount of our consolidated revenue and income and are undertaken pursuant to general and/or specific licenses issued by OFAC or as otherwise permitted by applicable sanctions regulations, these activities, as well as rapidly changing sanctions regimes across the globe, may expose us to a heightened risk of violating trade control regulations. We have established policies and procedures designed to assist with our compliance with these laws and regulations. Such policies and procedures may not always prevent us, our employees or parties acting on our behalf from violating these laws and regulations. Violations may expose us to criminal or civil penalties, or other adverse consequences including the denial of export privileges, injunctions, asset seizures, debarment from government contracts, and/or revocations or restrictions of licenses. In addition, the costs associated with responding to a government investigation and remediating any violations can be substantial. Furthermore, violations could trigger an event of default under our Credit Agreement, as defined under "Liquidity and Capital Resources" in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, which if not waived, could result in the acceleration of any outstanding indebtedness, cause cross-defaults under other agreements to which we are a party (such as certain derivative contracts), and impair our ability to obtain working capital advances or letters of credit. Accordingly, violations could adversely affect, among other things, our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our business is focused on the marketing of energy and other related products and services primarily to the aviation, land and marine transportation industries, which are generally affected by economic cycles and other global events. Weak economic conditions that have a negative impact on our customers' business may, in turn, have an adverse effect on our business. Additionally, our business and that of our customers can be adversely impacted by political instability, terrorist activities, piracy, military action, transportation, terminal or pipeline capacity constraints, natural disasters and other weather-related events that disrupt shipping, flight operations, land transportation or the availability of fuel, which may negatively impact sales of our products and services. Certain of our customers are affected by variations in demand for business and leisure travel. Business travel can be impacted by increased use of conferencing and collaboration technology, increased remote work and cost-driven business travel limitations, while leisure travel demand can be impacted by reductions in consumer discretionary income and other economic factors. Our customers may also choose to reduce the amount of fuel they consume in their operations. For example, our customers in the shipping industry may elect to sail their vessels at reduced speeds, known as "slow steaming," to conserve fuel and reduce emissions. Additionally, political or governmental developments or other global health concerns or crises in the countries in which we or our customers operate, could also result in further social, economic or labor instability. Further, personnel or other shortages can impact our customers' ability to meet demand, which may in turn adversely affect their demand for our fuel products. Accordingly, the effects of any of the foregoing risks and uncertainties on us or our customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our business may also be adversely affected by consolidation in the aviation, land or marine transportation industries, which may reduce the number of customers that purchase our products and services. Larger shipping companies and airlines often have greater leverage and have a greater ability to buy directly from major oil companies and suppliers. Accordingly, this can negatively impact our value proposition to these types of customers and increases the risk of disintermediation.

Energy and commodity prices are volatile and can be impacted by many factors beyond our control, including: expectations about future supply and demand for petroleum products; oil production levels set and maintained by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries ("OPEC") as well as non-OPEC countries; global economic and political conditions that impact or create uncertainty in the global energy markets, such as the ongoing military conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and threatened or actual acts of terrorism, war or civil unrest; the imposition of tariffs in connection with the new administration in the U.S. and retaliatory tariffs in response thereto; laws, regulations or taxes related to environmental matters, including those mandating or incentivizing alternative energy sources or otherwise addressing global climate change; energy conservation efforts and technological advances affecting energy consumption or supply; regulatory changes in commodities markets; and extreme weather and other natural disasters. As described above, we extend credit to many of our customers in connection with their purchase of fuel and services from us. During periods of high fuel prices, our customers may not be able to purchase the same volumes of fuel from us because of their financial credit limits with us. An inability to purchase fuel from us or other suppliers can have an adverse impact on their business, causing them to be unable to make payments owed to us for fuel they previously purchased on credit. In addition, high fuel prices can impact our own credit limits with our suppliers, preventing us from purchasing enough fuel to meet customer demand unless we provide additional credit support for fuel purchases, such as letters of credit, bank guarantees or prepayments, any of which could adversely impact our liquidity and increase our working capital costs. Conversely, extended periods of low fuel prices, particularly when coupled with low price volatility, can also have an adverse effect on us. This can occur due to many factors, such as reduced demand for our price risk management products and decreased sales to our customers involved in the oil exploration sector. Low fuel prices also facilitate increased competition by reducing financial barriers to entry and enabling existing, lower-capitalized competitors to conduct more business because of the lower working capital requirements. We may also experience negative results in volatile market pricing environments experiencing severe disruption. For example, in the first six months of 2022, our aviation segment was significantly and adversely affected by severe backwardation, a market condition in which oil futures forward prices trade at lower levels than the current market price. Our efforts to limit our exposure to this type of market risk may not be fully effective. Finally, we maintain fuel inventories for competitive and logistical reasons. Significant variations in the market prices of products held in our inventories may require us to record inventory valuation charges. Our inventory is principally valued using the weighted average cost methodology and is stated at the lower of average cost or net realizable value. Hedging transactions we undertake to limit the financial effects of commodity price fluctuations may not be fully effective. Accordingly, if the market value of our inventory is less than our average cost and to the extent our hedges are not effective at mitigating the impacts of price fluctuations, we may be required to record a write-down of inventory on hand and incur a non-cash charge or suffer losses as fuel is sold, which can adversely impact our earnings.

Inflation in the United States and other jurisdictions in which we do business increased significantly in late 2021 into 2022, driven in part by supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and increased commodity prices, which has generally resulted in higher costs. A significant or prolonged period of high inflation, particularly when combined with rising interest rates due to actions taken by governments to attempt to control inflation, could adversely impact our results if costs, including employee compensation driven by competitive job market conditions, were to increase at a rate greater than the increase in the revenues we generate. Higher interest rates also typically increase the interest expense associated with our credit arrangements with banks and other parties that serve as important sources of liquidity for us, which can therefore negatively impact our results of operations for a particular period. For additional information on the effects of inflation on our business, see Item 7. – Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Customers, consumers, investors, and other stakeholders are increasingly focusing on environmental, social and governance ("ESG") matters, including climate, water use and other sustainability concerns. Furthermore, numerous institutional investors and financial institutions have indicated a focus on matters affecting the environment, which may result in reduced investments in, or financing available to, industries that emit GHG emissions. Many of these groups believe that climate change will significantly influence companies' long-term prospects and have developed ESG standards and guidelines to measure companies' performance. If our ESG initiatives fail to satisfy our investors, customers, suppliers, or other stakeholders, our reputation, ability to sell products and services to customers, our ability to attract or retain employees, and our attractiveness as an investment or business partner could be negatively impacted. In addition, various governmental authorities, as well as voluntary sustainability initiatives and organizations, have promulgated different environmental and social responsibility laws, regulations, policies, and initiatives, which are under active development, can be unpredictable and conflicting, and may change rapidly in future periods. Additionally, the SEC has recently expressed its intent to scrutinize climate-change related disclosures in public filings, increasing the potential for enforcement if the SEC were to allege that our existing climate disclosures are misleading or deficient. Some of our operations are in jurisdictions that have or are developing regulatory regimes governing disclosure of GHG emissions, such as the E.U.'s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and California's Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act and Climate Related Financial Risk Act. In 2023, California also enacted the Voluntary Carbon Market Disclosures Act, which requires companies that operate within the state and make certain climate-related claims to provide enhanced disclosures around the achievement of such claims. Unfavorable ratings under or non-compliance with these evolving laws, standards and benchmarks could adversely impact our reputation, business, stock price or access to capital. Non-compliance with any applicable laws, regulations or standards may also result in potential cost increases, litigation, fines, penalties, sales restrictions or loss of customers.

We rely heavily on the proper functioning and availability of both internal and third-party information technology systems, including network infrastructure and cloud applications and services, to support a variety of business processes and activities across our global operations. All information technology systems are subject to disruptions, outages, failures, and security breaches or incidents. Cybersecurity incidents may arise from employee or contractor error or misuse or unauthorized use of information technology systems or confidential information, individual attempts to gain unauthorized access to these information systems, and sophisticated cybersecurity attacks, known as advanced persistent threats, any of which may impact us directly or indirectly through our customers, suppliers or third-party service providers. Cybersecurity incidents and attacks are increasing in number, attackers are increasingly organized and well-financed, and at times supported by state-sponsored actors, and attacks often target critical infrastructure. Additionally, the use of artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, such as generative artificial intelligence, may enable more automated and effective attacks. Cybersecurity incidents can remain undetected for a period of time despite efforts to detect and respond to them in a timely manner. Cybersecurity incidents and similar attacks vary in their form and can include the deployment of harmful malware or ransomware, denial-of-services attacks, and other attacks, which may affect business continuity and threaten the availability, confidentiality and integrity of our systems and information. Cybersecurity incidents can also affect third-party networks outside of our control that are required to operate trading platforms, pipelines, and other infrastructure we rely on to conduct our business, together with the financial systems we rely upon to send and receive funds throughout the world. For example, in 2021, a U.S. pipeline company temporarily shut down its pipeline system following a ransomware attack on its systems. Cybersecurity incidents and other technology failures can also affect the sectors in which our customers operate. In 2024, a well-publicized incident involving a major cybersecurity company resulted in widespread crashes of information technology systems into which the cybersecurity company's products were integrated, causing significant impacts to the banking, transportation and other industries. While these incidents did not have a material adverse impact on us, future cyberattacks, incidents and disruptions affecting the banking, transportation, or other industries, or pipelines and other critical fuel delivery infrastructure, could significantly impact us We are also exposed to risks associated with the failure of our employees, customers, business partners and other third parties to use appropriate controls to protect sensitive information, due to risks associated with social engineering (e.g., phishing and impersonation), fraud and email scams. External parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees, customers, suppliers or other users of our systems to disclose sensitive information to gain access to our data or use electronic means to induce us to enter into fraudulent transactions. We may also face increased cybersecurity risk and threats for a period of time after acquisitions as we transition the acquired entity's historical systems and networks to our standards. In addition, due to the large number of transactions that run through our systems each day, significant system downtime or disruption could have a material impact on our, and in the case of our technology offerings, our customers', ability to conduct business, process and record transactions, make operational and financial decisions or damage our reputation with customers or suppliers, particularly in the event of billing errors or payment delays. Similarly, if ours or any of our business partners' or cloud service providers' access to cloud-based or similar platforms and services is disrupted for any reason and leads to disruptions in our critical systems, our operations and ability to manage our business could be adversely impacted. We may not have sufficient recourse against these parties in the event they experience a significant cybersecurity incident or similar attack or other security breach affecting our or our customers' data. Our cybersecurity and infrastructure protection technologies, disaster recovery plans and systems, employee training and vendor risk management that we use to mitigate cybersecurity threats may not be sufficient to defend us against all unauthorized attempts to access our information or impact our systems. As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve, we may be required to dedicate significant additional resources and incur substantial costs to modify or enhance our security measures or to investigate and remediate any vulnerabilities. Despite these efforts, we may be unable to fully anticipate or implement adequate preventive measures or mitigate potential harm. We and our third party providers have experienced, and expect to continue to experience, cybersecurity incidents. To our knowledge, we have not experienced any material losses relating to cybersecurity attacks. However, there can be no assurance that we will not suffer material losses in the future. We currently maintain insurance to protect us from certain losses arising as a result of cybersecurity incidents, but this insurance may not be sufficient to cover the financial, legal, business or reputational losses that may result from such incidents and there is no guarantee that such coverage will continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Any of the adverse effects described above could damage our brand, competitiveness and ability to conduct our business, impact our credit and risk exposure decisions, cause us to lose customers or revenues, subject us to significant remediation costs, litigation or regulatory actions, loss or corruption of data, costs related to remediation or the payment of ransom, fines and penalties, or otherwise have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.